Lyman alpha emission in starbursts: implications for galaxies at high redshift

We present the results of a high resolution UV 2-D spectroscopic survey of star forming galaxies observed with HST-STIS. Our main aim was to map the Lyman alpha profiles to learn about the gas kinematics and its relation with the escape of Lyman alpha photons and to detect extended Lyman alpha emission due to scattering in gaseous halos. We have combined our data with previously obtained UV spectroscopy on other three star-forming galaxies. We find that the P-Cygni profile is spatially extended, smooth and spans several kiloparsecs covering a region much larger than the starburst itself. We propose a scenario whereby an expanding super-shell is generated by the interaction of the combined stellar winds and supernova ejecta from the young starbursts, with an extended low density halo. The variety of observed Lyman alpha profiles both in our sample and in high redshift starbursts is explained as phases in the time evolution of the super-shell expanding into the disk and halo of the host galaxy. The observed shapes, widths and velocities are in excellent agreement with the super-shell scenario predictions and represent a time sequence. We confirm that among the many intrinsic parameters of a star forming region that can affect the properties of the observed Lyman alpha profiles, velocity and density distributions of neutral gas along the line of sight are by far the dominant ones, while the amount of dust will determine the intensity of the emission line, if any.